Discovery, Bluffing and False and Misleading Conduct.

The Brit legal system must contain the process known as Discovery?

By serving a Notice of Discovery, Notice to Produce or Notice of Disclosure, whatever, when they take you to court, they have to show their hand and give you copies of documents they are going to rely on to win their case.

Simply reminding them that you are going to insist on discovery; the first time they hint at taking you to court; would likely weed many of them out early in the process.

Discovery is a great opportunity to compel the DC to provide you with documents they are going to rely on for their authority to take you to court and to win their case.

The Discovery process is the put up or shuddup point for the DC. If they know they don't have the 3 required documents, the notice of default, original agreement, or the assignment notice from the OC to the DC, then they are stuffed and in all likelihood will back off.

If they had the documents they would continue with the case, in which case they would have to show their assignment from the OC in which case the debtor would see how much they purchased the debt off the OC for. If they don't have the documents, they would quickly discontinue because they know they cannot bluff the debtor any more.

If they fold then there is a strong likelihood they were bluffing.

Bluffing could easily be false and misleading conduct which must be defined somewhere, which is an offense in itself in many jurisdictions.

If the courts accept bluffing as false and misleading conduct then there has to be a real possibility that its also fraud. Fraud vitiates all contracts and there is no statute of limitation to stop the debtor from suing them for fraud later on.

The Debtor would likely succeed in an action in court for damages under either false and misleading conduct; or fraud.

The key to succeeding would lie in the fact that they folded when you told them about your intent to do Discovery if it goes to court, or, they folded when hit with a notice of discovery in which case, I'm sure, the legal process would mean they would be required file a Notice of Discontinuance with the court.

This notice of discontinuance would highly likely be your documentary proof, in court, they were bluffing and or that they engaged in false and misleading conduct.

Please be aware, In the UK Discovery and Disclosure are quite different. Lord Woolf abolished the fishing expedition of Discoveryin the 1990's and replaced it with Disclosure, which is far lesser in the production of documents.

Succinctly put here.
https://www.gdlaw.co.uk/site/blog/sectors-blog/technology-blog/civil-litigation-discovery-is-not-the-same-as-disclosure?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=View-Original